Organisers aim to make festival day even better

HUNDREDS of people turned out for a mix of sun, music and culinary delights at t he annual Newport Festival.

Local businesses pulled out all the stops to draw in the crowds with boat rides across the River Tay, live performances and a host of stalls highlighting the very best the town has to offer.

Organisers are now hoping to build on its success and are already thinking about how they can expand the festival next year.

Mary-Jane Duncan, from award-winning cafe KitschnBake, said: “It was fantastic and the whole village worked really hard to pull it all together.

“Most venues hosted a music slot or two. We held ours outside as it was such a cracking day, as did The Newport and Dave Anderson Marine.

“There were street food trucks, Jamie Scott (from The Newport) doing demonstrations and we put on a special festival menu allowing folks to move more easily between the venues if they wanted.

“We also launched our new local food map that we recently had commissioned, which now has pride of place on the cafe wall featuring all the brilliant local producers near us.”

Simon Rankin, who helped to organise some of the music for the event, agreed the day had been a roaring success.

He said: “We plan to elevate it even more next year and build on the success, so hopefully we’ll see even more people next time.”

Meanwhile, there was plenty fun in the sun in Dundee with the popular series of Sunday band concerts continuing at two venues.

Dundee I nstrumental Band performed at the pavilion in Baxter Park, providing entertainment for everyone enjoying t he sunshine, while Forfar Instrumental Band played at Magdalen Green bandstand.

The concerts are part of a series taking place in Dundee during the summer months.